Revived Education Lobby Among Hill's Best

Washington--In crisis, there is both danger and opportunity, says
the Chinese proverb.

For education interests here, the sense of jeopardy engendered in
the Reagan era by the Administration's aggressive moves to slash
federal spending and policymaking in education has had at least one
very salutary effect: It has revitalized a once-languishing coalition
of lobbyists that observers now characterize as one of the most
effective on Capitol Hill.

"The coalition is by far one of the more sophisticated and organized
networks in the social-service arena," said a legislative aide who is
involved in the Congressional budget process. "They can accomplish a
great deal with 10 phone calls."

Working out of a small suite of offices on the Hill, the Committee
for Education Funding's three professional staff members help
coordinate the activities of 70 lobbyists and some 100 precollegiate
and postsecondary education organizations, which in turn represent
millions of individuals and institutions.

The lobbyists, whose organizations pay membership dues to support
cef's activities, crowd into its offices on a weekly basis to confer on
strategy and agree on marching orders.

Focus on Funding

One secret of the group's success is a sharp focus on funding,
Washington hands say. The committee does not spend its time debating
policy.

"We have to set aside individual concerns and work for the larger
purpose of increased federal funding," says Edward Kealy, director of
federal programs for the National School Boards Association.

Cef representatives are credited by those who have worked with them
in past budget sessions for their knowledge about the budget process
and force in communicating their position on specific funding items.
This budget season will be no exception.

The President's budget would in4crease education spending by $800
million from the 1988 appropriation of $20.3 billion. The $21.2-billion
request is a marked departure from the previous Administration
proposal, which hovered at $14 billion.

But the $800-million increase represents only an adjustment for
inflation, according to Susan Frost, cef's executive director. The
committee is urging the Congress to consider an appropriation level of
$22.8 billion--a $2.5 billion increase over 1988 funding.

"We want to get the numbers to match the rhetoric, " says Ms. Frost.
To do that, the committee will once again call upon the
government-relations personnel of its member organizations to "charge
up the Hill."

Nixon-Era Legacy

The coalition first emerged in 1969 to combat another President who
was inclined to cut education budgets, Richard M. Nixon.

A former Senate staff member, Charles Lee, organized the group under
the name "Emergency Committee for the Full Funding of Education
Programs." His group, says one cef member, had "phenomenal successes"
in prodding the Congress to add nearly $8 billion to Presidential
education budgets between 1969 and 1978.

During the Carter years, the word "emergency" was dropped from the
committee's name as most members "grew fat and happy," in the words of
one, basking in the atmosphere of a pro-education Administration.

When Mr. Lee, who had been a strong motivating force behind the
group, retired in 1981, the member organizations took some time to
reassess the coalition.

Although many of the lobbyists worked informally together, it was
not until 1983 that the group formally reconstituted itself and hired
Ms. Frost to fill Mr. Lee's shoes. The name was changed to the
Committee for Education Funding.

"The Reagan years have unified the coalition," says Andrea Bolling,
lobbyist for the American Associ8ation of Community and Junior Colleges
and current president of c.e.f. "We are stronger than ever."

"When the agenda of the Administration is dissolving or severely
reducing the federal role in education," concurs Ms. Frost, "it forces
unity."

Strength Through Unity

Unity equals strength, say Congressional staff members who work on
budget-related committees. And strength is what c.e.f. is known for on
Capitol Hill.

"They have really become knowledgeable about the process and the
intricacies and the inside decisions," says John F. Jennings, majority
counsel to the House Education and Labor Committee.

"Most groups just look at the outcomes and don't understand the
process," he says.

In fact, suggests another staff member, the coalition is becoming so
educated on the intricacies that its representatives sometimes can be
"too aggressive" in making their needs known.

Maintaining that kind of educated and unified network takes a
concerted effort, points out Mr. Jennings, particularly when
conflicting interests of the many groups within the coalition have to
be reconciled.

"If there is a problem with even one of our associations and it is
raised in the weekly meeting, then it will stop us in our tracks until
we figure out an accommodation," says Ms. Frost.

Unanimous consent must be reached, she adds, before a position is
formally adopted by the coalition.

What usually makes forging a consensus possible, she notes, is that
the groups realize that if the Administration is successful in slicing
funds from higher-education programs one year, they are more likely to
be successful in cutting funds from elementary and secondary programs
the next year.

After the weekly cef session, each lobbyist will take agreed-upon
positions to an assigned group of lawmakers and, equally important, to
his or her organization's membership.

The individual associations organize field campaigns in which
educators from across the country contact their Congressional delegates
and urge support for c.e.f. positions.

'Have To Hear From Us'

"The members of Congress have to hear from their constituents or our
efforts are in vain," says Ms. Frost, who left a job as legislative
assistant to Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts to direct the
education coalition.

C.e.f. also publishes a newsletter and an annual book analyzing the
proposed budget, and operates a 24-hour telephone hotline with the
latest information on budget hearings and deadlines.

Ms. Frost credits a bipartisan Congress that "recognizes the need
for a federal role in education" for victories in raising funding
levels in the fiscal 1988 budget. It is the hope of the committee that
the Congressional support will bring victory again, she says.

The budget process is expected to move faster this year, with strong
guidelines already established by the budget agreement and with
lawmakers wanting additional time away from Washington to campaign for
elections.

C.e.f. will focus its efforts on the appropriations committees,
which have the task of allotting funds to individual programs under the
budget guidelines.

"We will have to convince the Congress to question the credibility
of the budget request, which comes nowhere near to catching up to the
needs," says Mr. Kealy. "We will have to break the election-year
psychology of keeping things static."

Ground Rules for Posting
We encourage lively debate, but please be respectful of others. Profanity and personal attacks are prohibited. By commenting, you are agreeing to abide by our user agreement.
All comments are public.